Christmas

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Fair warning, I guarantee most, if not all, of my posts this month will reference how quickly this year has gone by and how this is the last linkup, post, or whatever of 2018. You have been warned…

It’s the last TBB Asks of 2018! (see, I didn’t lie above). I haven’t participated in a TBB Asks post since September, so I’m excited to be joining back in today! Christmas is the absolute best, so let’s answer some questions about it, shall we?

1. Candy Canes : Yes or No? Yes, but I don’t like spearmint ones. I also read something about Oreo candy canes recently, and I’m not sure how I feel about that!

2. Christmas morning – early riser or sleep in? We have a toddler. Sleeping in is a rare and glorious occasion on a normal day, but now that she is starting to become aware of what Christmas is (and that Santa will bring presents), I have a feeling like we’ll be waking up earlier than usual for a few years!

Christmas morning 2017 – we were up around 7 AM, which is normal for us!

3. Did you shop on Black Friday : Yes or No? That’s a solid no! We didn’t even leave our house on Thanksgiving or Friday. It was so nice to stay home and be lazy for a couple of days!

4. Christmas tree up in November : Yes or No? Yes! We didn’t put it up until after Thanksgiving, but we still don’t have all of our ornaments on it. Oops! Funny story, my newest co-worker is super into decorating for the holidays, and he wanted to put up the Christmas decorations before Halloween! I’m a Christmas fanatic, but that was too soon even for me!

5. Do you get holiday ideas from Pinterest : Yes or No? Yep! I’ve got a Christmas board on there, but I haven’t visited it in a while. Time to go back through it and add to it!

A lovely Snapchat picture of one of my festive Christmas outfits from 2016!

7. Stocking stuffers : Wrapped or Unwrapped? Unwrapped – I like to just toss things in as I find them. Also, we’ve heard on good authority that Santa won’t be wrapping his gifts. He also might have bought a canvas bag that he will write Charlotte’s name on and put her unwrapped presents in there. I respect his ingenuity.

8. Traditional or modern Christmas songs? Both – give me allllll of the Christmas music!

9. Fruitcake : Yes or No? I’ve never had it! I looked up a couple of recipes, and it doesn’t sound too bad.

11. Is there snow in December where you live? Typically there’s not, especially since it was 70 degrees here yesterday! I do remember having snow on Christmas around 8 years ago, maybe? It was really pretty!

Oreo, I’m gonna need you to chill out on these alternative flavors. If it isn’t broken, why try to fix it?

My blogging friend Leslie has a really cute craft project on her blog – New Year’s Wish Bottles. It seems simple enough that even a non-crafter like myself could do it!

I consistently get a flu shot each year, but it turns out the latest shot could only be around 10% effective at preventing the flu. In other, related news, I have been sick since Thursday and am going to the doctor in the morning. Let’s hope my shot is part of the magic 10%!

Did you know that some Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas today? Since we haven’t taken down our Christmas tree or put away everything from Christmas, this knowledge makes me feel a little less scatterbrained!

Side note – I have gotten a lot of great comments on here lately and hope to be able to respond to them once I’ve gotten medicated and can stand to look at a screen for more than the time it takes to type posts. Also, through the magic of the Internet, I’ve prescheduled some things so even being sickly, I’ll have fresh content for you all. Woo hoo! I’ll also make Will update my health status on my Facebook page because I know everyone won’t be able to rest until they know what’s wrong with me… 😉

Recently my blogger friend Leslie reached out to a few of us to see if we were interested in creating mini bucket lists for Christmas and having a linkup. Since I didn’t update my Fall bucket list in November and have forgotten what was on it, I decided this would be a good chance to start fresh with bucket lists! I’m a few days behind on posting this, but better late than never, right?

(I also stole a couple of these from Leslie. No shame in my thievery game…).

Let’s look at the items, shall we?

1. Buy a new ornament – every year since Will and I were first dating, we have bought a new ornament for our Christmas tree. One year we bought it on Halloween! We’re behind on getting our annual ornament this year, so we need to get to it!

2. Christmas lights scavenger hunt – This is one of the ones I stole, but it’s such a great idea! I’ve seen a few of these around my neighborhood!

3. Have a Christmas party – Totally cheating on this one since we’re having our Happy Holigames : Part Deux this weekend! I’ll mark this one off the list at least!

4. Learn to make a different Christmas treat – I make reindeer belly buttons every year, and they’re delicious, but I need to add another treat to my annual recipes!

5. Watch Elf – I haven’t seen this in so long! I know it’s one of my mom’s favorite movies (ha!), so I’m going to invite her to watch it with me… 😉

Want to join in? Leave your Christmas mini bucket list items in the comments or join the linkup by clicking the blue button below. Be sure to check out the other blogs and see what they have planned!

I know it’s only December 4, but it feels like this month is flying by! Since there are only three weeks until Christmas (INSANE!), I thought it would be fun to answer some Christmas-themed questions today!

1. Real or Fake Tree? Fake – I’m so scared of not watering a real one enough and having a fire start when the tree is too dry and the lights are too hot. I’ve given this a lot of thought, obviously.

2. Favorite Christmas Cookie? I don’t really discriminate against any kind of cookie!

3. Home on Christmas Morning or Travel? We’re fortunate that all of our relatives are close by so we can spend Christmas morning at home and then go to their houses later in the day!

4. Clear or Colored Lights? Colorful, although I have seen some clear ones used as accents on outside decorations and they look really good.

5. Send Christmas Cards? Every year I say I’m going to and I have the best intentions, but I don’t think I’ve sent or given out cards since I was in college!

My brother and I went Christmas shopping yesterday, and somehow we started talking about how Christmas music almost always includes some type of descriptive adjective or feeling, for example, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” We thought it would be funny if those words weren’t included, so that song would instead be “Have Yourself A…Christmas.” Another example, “Holly Jolly Christmas,” would just become “Christmas.”

Imagine the lyric changes, also.

Original lyrics:

Have a holly, jolly Christmas;
It’s the best time of the year
I don’t know if there’ll be snow
but have a cup of cheer
Have a holly, jolly Christmas;
And when you walk down the street
Say Hello to friends you know
and everyone you meet

Oh ho
the mistletoe
hung where you can see;
Somebody waits for you;
Kiss her once for me
Have a holly jolly Christmas
and in case you didn’t hear
Oh by golly
have a holly
jolly Christmas this year

Edited lyrics:

Have a…Christmas;
It’s the…time of the year
I don’t know if there’ll be snow
but have a cup of cheer
Have a…Christmas;
And when you walk down the street
Say Hello to friends you know
and everyone you meet

Oh ho
the mistletoe
hung where you can see;
Somebody waits for you;
Kiss her once for me
Have a…Christmas
and in case you didn’t hear
Oh by golly
have a…Christmas this year

We debated over whether or not a song like “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” would be edited because Rockin’ is telling you what to do, but it’s not really too emotional. What do you think? Would you change the lyrics to that one? What other songs could you edit during this most wonderful time of the year (or should I just say…time of the year)?

P.S., if you’re planning to have a one word focus for 2015, I’ll be writing about that next week so join me, especially if you have a blog and want to link up! 🙂